A day in the life of a mama of 7

This is for those in the last week who claimed I was "unorganized". Hahahahaha, unorganized + 7 kids = crazy, uncontrolled, chaos! You can not, let me say that again, CAN NOT be unorganized with 7 kids.

But besides that many wonder what a typical day is like in our house, So here is a overview of our typical day:

6 AM, wake tabi for school, fix Tabi a quick b-fast, fix lunches, feed Ty

6:50 get Tabi on the bus, wake up Chrisi, check e-mail and start planning/printing out Ricky's lessons for the day, get load of laundry in, ask chirisi if she wants b-fast, she will answer no, fix myself b-fast, chrisi will ask for some, ugh.... luckily at b-fast usually is only cereal.

8:00 Chrisi on bus, finish up getting Ricky's lessons ready, make list of things that need to be done today "in my free time" (that is a joke).

8:15 lay down on couch to try and catch some z's because Ty is actually sleeping in his swing around this time, he is starting to outgrow the swing, I don't know what I will do when this happens!

8:25 Dani ruins all chances of a nap as she comes creeping down the stairs followed by Bri, Start fixing Bri, Dani, and Ricky b-fast and wake up ricky for b-fast and listen to him complain that what ever I fixed isn't what he wanted.

Feed Ty

short period of cleaning time, whatever needs done the most, usually dishes and a quick vacuum.

9:30 some school with Ricky, Feed Ty

break and let Ricky play Wii while mom finished some laundry

then back to more school

12:00 fix lunch, Feed Ty, by this time Ty is snuggled in my moby wrap "helping" mama.

1:00 Literature (AKA story time), Little ones have blanket time while I read and then little ones down for a nap (this is the time Mama tries to read without falling asleep)

Ricky finish up any left over school work or quiet time

Pick up living room, Ty's play mat time, and feed Ty

(here depending on the day we may go to Izzy's therapy or start getting ready for church classes, in which case I will throw something in the crock pot).

2:30 tabi home from school, help her with homework, e-mail her teachers because she says she has no homework and about 3:00 get stared on the homework that the teachers said she has. Someday she will realize she can't get away with this right?

3:30 Chrisi home from school, homework time for her too.

4:30 start figuring out dinner, the kids will all starve to death if it isn't done soon.... feed ty... break up several fights.... get the kids to start picking up.

6:00 dinner followed by baths... feed ty

7:30 kids bedtime, this can take up to 2 hours by the time I get everyone's pj's on them, teeth brushed, tucked in, and bed time stories read, and a half dozen "drinks of water" and feed Ty (he gets cranky in the evening)

10:00 clean up dinner, remember there is still laundry in the washer from this morning, grade some papers, feed Ty, wrap up anything left that needs to be done.

11:30 needlessly get online and post to blog while eating oreo cookies because this is the first time I have had to relax all day, not to mention that this is the only time I can actually sit down with Oreo cookies without many little hands reaching for them.

12:00 realize how tired I am and give up on post and head to bed, where I will feed ty again (at least he has started sleeping until 5AM, so by the time I am in bed I will actually get a whole 4 1/2 hours sleep before I get to start all over.

G-night.

Laundry... LAUNdry..... LAUNDRY!!!!

Tonight at church I was talking to another mom who was "behind" on laundry. As she went on about how she will need to do a mere 4 loads to catch up. My mind started to wander as I began to think about my laundry.....

I have not done laundry for a week, trust me I trump everyone who is behind on laundry (unless you have a bigger family). Think about this (maybe even a little visualization too), one weeks worth of laundry in our house is.....

56 t-shirts
56 sweaters if the weather has been cold
14 baby outfits
7 baby blankets
56 pairs of pants
42 undies
112 socks (no wonder I gave up on sorting socks and just have a "sock basket" where everyone has to dig through to find matching socks)
56 pairs of pj's if everyone wore different pj's each night (I try and encourage wearing the same pj's a few night in a row)
and every day there is about 20 cloth diapers that need to be washed

Now this is just the basics, it doesn't include gym clothes and changes of clothes if the kids got dirty during the day, nor any towels (we can easily go through 9 towels a day if we are all taking baths and showers) or sheets. Now just to set the record straight, no I don't get it all ironed, folded, and put away. It usually goes from the line (or dryer) into baskets, the baskets do sometimes get sorted into a basket for each person and one for socks, then piled somewhere until "I get time to fold".

Now who would like to complain to me that they are behind on laundry?????

Kids Songs

About a month ago we were tortured, um, oops, I mean blessed with a Kids Bop CD after a innocent trip to McDonnalds. If anyone is interested in that CD, you can find a free one on the side of the road just down the street from McDonnalds.

Now, if you are a parent, I know it can be hard to believe there can be a CD better than Kids Bop (insert rolling eyes), but I have found something better. From the guy who did the homeschool song, Tim Hawkins....

(forgot to mention, for better hearing quality, pause or stop radio at the bottom of the page)



If only that was a real CD, I would buy it. I also think it would make a better happy meal toy.

And if you have never heard the homeschool song....



Ok one more just because I like Tim Hawkins, things you don't say to your wife...

Long Time, No Post

I can't believe I haven't posted to the blog in 5 months. I need to do a major update, we not only have a new baby, but also a new house. All in the same week :) On June 6th we got the keys to the new house so on the 7th I was cleaning the kitchen and getting the house ready to move into, and labor hit, July 9th we were blessed with the birth of our 2nd son Tyson.

I can't believe he is going to be 2 months old already and I can't believe we have been in the new house for 2 months already (we are still stepping over and moving around boxes).

So, what have we been up to? We have been slowly going green and frugal. With the economy who can't afford to become more frugal, and if your going to do that you minus well go green too.

Our first project cut our biggest expense, Diapers! with 4 kids in diapers it is easy to spend over $40 a week just buying the cheapest off brand diaper made, when you add my kids sensitive bottoms and the need for more expensive diapers the price sky rockets. Solution, first we looked into the flushable gdiapers, but there was still quite a bit of cost and the closest place that sold them was a good 30 minute drive in town. So we went cloth and its so much fun and addicting if you are crafty you can make your own out of anything from store bought material to old t-shirts or there are the WAHM who can whip up some very cute diapers, washing is no big deal. I throw them in the washer before going to bed each night and hang them out the next morning.

Next, we cut the cleaners, save more than the average family here because we have so many little ones always spilling something. Vinegar and baking soda make are excellent cleaners and even fabric softeners.

Next, more homemade from scratch foods, not only healthier but also a money saver. coupons combined with sale ads save a ton also.

Next, the dryer. With all the laundry we do this is a big energy saver. We can easily have the washer and dryer going 24/7 trying to keep up with the every growing dirty clothes monster. When we started this I didn't think it would last because the clothes were coming out stiffer than cardboard. But I stuck with it and suddenly I noticed that the clothes were coming out better than if they were dried in the dryer. Tips: use vinegar in the rinse, give the clothes a good shake before hanging (the tumbling action in the dryer is what makes them soft), and plenty of clothes pins will have them coming out looking freshly pressed. Remember, hang bottoms from their tops and tops from their bottoms.

Next, lights OFF. if the sun is seen, the light bulbs better be off. new house rule.

Next, cable. Since the switch to digital TV, public broadcasting is nice. We didn't watch that much tv anyways, I had most of the channels blocked with the kids around, and what we did watch was on the local channels anyways. We don't miss it (that much) and save a lot.

Next, I've been recycling thing around the house. old bed sheets are cut into strips and made into rag rugs (or diapers), recycled bags fused together to make various item like coasters, kids play mats, reusable bags, baskets, the list is endless, Rick and Grandpa's old dress shirts found new life as a jumper for the little girls, too many projects here to list. I will try and post some pictures and patterns in the coming weeks.

Who knows what will be next, but every penny saved is a penny made.